Desktop Authority MSI Studio

Features & Benefits

Repackaging

Features	Benefits
Legacy Application Support	Monitor changes from a legacy application installer and create a well structured MSI
Repackage on any machine	Monitor changes from your development machine (where Desktop Authority MSI Studio is installed) or another 'foreign' machine which can be completely clean (base build only) with no client software needed to be installed. This clean machine can be rebuilt between scans, or it can be a virtual machine. Installer Design Studio will connect to it and monitor changes.
Create Response Transforms	Configure existing MSI files by creating transform files (MSTs) by stepping through the UI of the existing installation and configure for your environment
Advanced Transform Management	Create standalone transforms, merge transforms with MSI files, or create a transform from the difference of 2 MSI files. View and edit transforms with the color coded transform editor.
Compare MSI packages	View the difference between 2 MSI files by viewing the changes in the table view with color coded rows, or export the differences to a text file
Create MSP Windows Installer patches	Create a Windows Installer patch from two MSIs, so that existing installations can be upgraded without reinstalling the application
Integration with Desktop Authority	Directly edit applications in Desktop Authority's software repository, or create MSIs for immediate distribution through DA's software management

Editing

Features	Benefits
Comprehensive MSI Editor	Intuitive Graphical Interface to add, edit and remove files, registry entries, shortcuts, merge modules, ini files entries, ODBC data sources, drivers and translators, environment variables, services and service controls, components, features, permissions on files, directories and registry keys, file extensions, class, typelib, progid entries and custom actions. Components and Features are displayed in a tree view allowing easy drag-and-drop of resource items between them.
Included MSI Table Editor	Table Editor allows direct editing of MSI tables, contains drop down lists in child tables and allows navigation from parent rows to child rows (great for viewing files in a particular component for instance). Also contains a resising tool
Completely Customisable Projects	The custom Action Editor allows you to create any type of custom action and add them to your sequence. Easily set the processing type, execution and scheduling. Easy modification of the event sequencing can be achieved by using arrows or adding and removing events.
Access to Deleted Project Components	A recycle bin allows you to reintroduce any deleted rows

Manage

Features	Benefits
Complete COM entry management	Convert registry table entries to COM table entries (AppId, Class, File Extension, ProgId, TypeLib). Convert COM table entries back to the registry table. Extract COM entries from the files in your project and add to the registry table. Convert paths in the registry table to component and file paths ([$compkey], [#filekey]).
Modular design architecture	Create merge modules from files in your project. Once stored as modules, you can search for merge modules to add to new projects
Access to CAB contents	Easily extract cab files and their contents from within MSI files
Wizards Ease Common Tasks	Wizards walk the user through many of the most common MSI management tasks: capture installations, create transforms, Create Custom Actions, reorder and hide dialogs, add supporting files
Export directly to System Center Configuration Manager 2007	Export completed MSIs directly into System Center Configuration Manager, with extensive options to specify the target distribution points, collections, schedule, priority and more

Validation & Building

Features	Benefits
Multiple Validation Options	Projects can be validated (ICE or MCE) and errors are displayed in the output window.
Exclusive MCE validation	Save time validating and fixing MSI’s with MCE validation. MCE validation has been developed by ScriptLogic to emulate ICE validation with the benefits of being extremely fast and allowing direct access to problem components via the table editor
File Storage Options	Compress files either internally (inside the MSI file), externally in a cab file, or leave them uncompressed
Self-Extracting Options	Create a bootstrapping executable for your MSI with the ability to make it self extracting. Check and install, if necessary, the windows installer runtimes from the bootstrapper.

Pro Edition

Features	Benefits
Zero-Touch Testing	MSI Studio Pro lets you easily create a special MSI package which simulates the effect of the application installer on the target computer, but without actually making any changes. Now the administrator can identify which files and registry keys which will be over-written and changed without doing any damage!
Conflict Resolution	MSI Studio Pro adds a repository for storing MSI packages, which allows for easy reporting on where each package might conflict with others. With MSI Studio Pro the administrator can find and resolve problems with conflicting application installers before they occur!

FAQ

What is Desktop Authority MSI Studio?

Desktop Authority MSI Studio is a comprehensive application packaging solution that gives administrators and software packagers the ability to quickly and easily create, edit, customise and build MSI packages.

What is an MSI?

MSI files are Microsoft's Windows Installer files. A single MSI can contain the files to be installed, the setup application, and the customisations to the setup, giving Windows administrators a simple method to deploy standardized applications.

What can I package with Desktop Authority MSI Studio?

Desktop Authority MSI Studio can package legacy applications into MSI files, repackage existing MSIs, create transforms (which customise the options during an installation) and even compare existing MSI packages.

Does Desktop Authority MSI Studio require a client installation?

No. All packaging is performed centrally with Installer Design Studio remotely monitoring a reference machine where the application to be mass deployed is being installed.

Why should I package applications?

Creating a packaged application ensures an application is deployed consistently throughout the enterprise. Additionally, when creating a package, you can validate, and even test deploy to ensure reliability of the deployment. No user interaction would be required (unless specified when creating the package) to deploy the application.

What is MCE validation?

MCE validation is Desktop Authority MSI Studio's faster implementation of Microsoft's ICE (Internal Consistency Evaluators) validation. MCE more rapidly determines errors with greater efficiency and links the errors directly to the MSI table entries for faster fixing of the problems.

I noticed Desktop Authority MSI Studio requires the .NET framework 1.1. Will all MSI files created require the .NET framework?

No – Windows only requires the Windows Installer Runtime to process MSIfiles. The Windows Installer Runtime is updated through Service Packs and Windows Update.